Cultivate Optimism Every Day: 6 Tips

To cultivate optimism requires effort. You might be surprised to
hear that optimism is not an innate quality. Optimism and pessimism are ways of
looking at yourself and the world through a positive or negative filter. Once you think of them as reflections of your
mindset, it becomes much easier to believe you can change. Like any new
behavior, you need to practice every day for it to become a habit. Try these
six suggestions to cultivate your optimism every day.

Cultivate Optimism:1. Keep a Journal

Journaling or keeping a
diary allows you to process events and to get a different perspective on them.
It encourages self-reflection and captures insights into your thinking and
behavior. You can write down what happened during your day and document, not just the bald facts but how you did it,
what you did to make it happen and what you did right. And, importantly, how it
felt while you were doing it. Don’t just record the good things (a promotion, a
presentation or meeting that went well), remember to write down the thing that
didn’t go so well and reflect on what happened, how you dealt with it, and what
you might do differently next time.

Cultivate Optimism:2. Laugh

Consciously
notice the funny side of things and write them down. If the technology didn’t
work, and you had to give the presentation without the slide deck, or the power
went out, or there was a fire drill in the middle of your crucial meeting. What
can seem like a disaster at the time can also be looked back on as a comedy of
errors.

Cultivate Optimism:3. Write to Your Future

Write a letter or a journal
entry that sets out the future you want. What job are you doing? Are you
running your own business? What have you learned? What has changed? Imagining
how your future life looks and feels can be a powerful motivator.

Cultivate Optimism:4. Keep a Kindness List

Have a page in your journal
where you note down kind gestures. Write down when you are kind to someone, or
when someone is kind to you. Even little things count, like opening a door for
someone or letting them go first in the line for coffee. You’ll be surprised at
how quickly they mount up, and your
ever-lengthening list will give you a different perspective on things.

Cultivate Optimism:5. Say "Thank You"

Write a letter or email,
phone or visit someone (a person outside your family) who has been genuinely
kind to you. Tell them how much you appreciate what they did or said and how it
has affected your life.

Cultivate Optimism:6. Choose Positivity

Make the positive choice to
develop and maintain an optimistic outlook. Do this every morning when you wake
up. Decide that today is going to be a great day. Everyone will have some level
of suffering in their life. Choosing to be optimistic will make it easier to
bounce back from the bad times and to enjoy and be certain of the good times.